It’s Official

Hello. Yes, it’s official; I am a certified Student Delivery Specialist! I am thrilled to be able to pick up and deliver students to and from school 🙂 Today’s post will be rather lengthy, bear with me.

The past 10 weeks has been a bit fearful and wonderful. That’s right. You may wonder how it can be both at the same time. Let me explain.

I honestly thought career wise I was working where I would retire. My husband plans on retiring a second time in 3 years and I would like to retire as well. I, on the other hand, will need to wait 5 years. Insurance is a huge consideration. Sixty five is the magic number for me to be able to receive/qualify for Medicare. Working from home for a company that contracted with the state for childcare is not an easy job, very stressful. I kept saying I wish I could work part time. One day while driving past the school there was this huge sign posted, bus drivers needed.

That’s all it took. I called and inquired. Benefits included: Part-time; Major medical premiums paid; Holidays and Summer off; a Pay raise and a Company vehicle. I applied and got the job. All I needed to do was a Dept of Transportation physical and of course get a CDL. If you are interested, here is the online handbook I needed to study and then pass a written test.

First was the physical. One of the questions asked was about sleep. Of course I admitted to having a CPAP machine. Keep in mind I had not been using it. During my exam, the practitioner stated I would need to provide at least a three month report of CPAP usage. From the appointment date, three months would be middle November. A blow to my plans. So I asked the director of transportation (my boss) if I could do something while I worked on the required report. Her answer was absolutely. I actually began working for the school district as a para for the special ed buses. With this information, I provided my two week notice to the childcare employment. This is when the ‘fear’ factor presented itself.

Instead of being paid every other week, it would be once monthly. My first check would only be two weeks. That’s spooky in itself! My husband was very supportive and we worked that through. Then I had to study for the test. At this time I was studying on my own for the permit. The written text consisted of a general test, passenger test and then school bus test. Each test could be taken for a total of 4 times. If you could not pass, then you would need to wait six months to take the test again. It took me four times to pass the general test. The first three was taken at the Lawrence drivers license office. My trainer helped me study and instructed me to go to the Topeka office, requesting a written test. The other times it was done on a computer and I thought if I skipped a question it was an automatic wrong mark. The test was 50 questions and could not miss more than 10. Each time the test was different and I had missed 11. The day came for me to take the test for the fourth time. I was very anxious. Took the general test and passed, only missing two questions. Took the next two and passed them the first time.

The next few weeks I was preparing for the skills test. This included knowing the vehicle under the hood and the inside and outside of the bus, motor parts and light functions. After mastering backing the bus, pulling forward, parallel parking and demonstrating what to do when picking/dropping students off at bus stops, when approaching train tracks and a few other situations, it was time to go for the skills test. Luckily the lady who assisted me the day of my written tests was the one who was my skills examiner.

The wonderful. I work part time. This has been so amazing! I actually felt a bit guilty for not working more. There will be times when I will drive field trips, like the one coming up on Dec 7th. It’s a Saturday, I will be taking the wrestling team to a meet. It will be a full day and the whole day I will get paid 🙂 My boss said end of February, March and April there will be many field trips for all three schools, grade, middle and high school. For now I am wanting to take the extra trips. When Kevin does retire, then I will go back to just the 20 hours. I am a social butterfly and the human interactions is important to me.

This week there is no school Nov 24-29. I have never had this much time off for Thanksgiving! The downside, students have had the cold and pneumonia and I now have the cold. It’s been nice hanging out at home, eating chicken noodle soup and watching movies. Our Thanksgiving with the family will be Saturday. I should be over my cold by then.

After driving the students for the past two weeks, I can tell you stories of what happens on the bus routes. Parents beware, your kid may be a little angel at home but………
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I absolutely love being a Student Delivery Specialist. The kids are angels. Just keep in mind if they come home and tell you a story about the bus driver doing a break check, it’s not a break check! They do not see everything the driver sees. I drive many country gravel roads and it’s deer rutting season. 🙂

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra

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